With Azure Luan Elder there, Ying Chengfeng immediately went into full-on trash-talking mode:
"I also heard that the Soul Master who truly leads the Golden Sacred Dragon has a Martial Soul that looks like a pig or a dog."
"Why is a Martial Soul like that able to lead the Golden Sacred Dragon?"
"I think that Martial Soul was supposed to be the Golden Sacred Dragon in the first place."
"The other two corners of the Golden Iron Triangle gave their energy to that Martial Soul,"
"which gave it enough energy to evolve into the Radiant Sacred Dragon form."
"I've come up with a theory recently."
"When an overwhelmingly powerful Martial Soul awakens, the Soul Master may not have enough Soul Power,"
"which prevents the Martial Soul from fully awakening and turns it into a pig."
"So which one is the useless one, the Martial Soul or the Soul Master? That's a tough one to guess."
"Still, even so, if you give that pig enough life energy, it can still be saved."
"But this Soul Master thinks he can reach the heavens, and unrealistically wants to make a pig command thunder."
"That cut off the pig's chance to grow, and left it able to attack only three times."
"Isn't that like forcing a child who can't even walk to pick up a knife and fight?"
"A Martial Soul is like your own child. When to feed it and when to train it—that's something parents have to think about."
"You can't raise your Martial Soul badly and then turn around and blame it for being useless, can you?"
"If the Martial Soul really were useless, could it become the Radiant Sacred Dragon?"
"If a Martial Soul doesn't fully awaken, doesn't that mean the Soul Master himself wasn't capable enough?"
"His Holiness the Pope, do you think I'm right?"
"Oh, right. I heard that this Soul Master with a pig Martial Soul fell in love with the only female member of the Golden Iron Triangle."
"They even almost got married."
Suddenly, an even stronger wave of Soul Power surged out from the Pope Palace.
This time, even Azure Luan Elder could barely hold it back.
Bibi Dong's voice rang out as well.
"Azure Luan Elder, is this all the upbringing your child has?"
Before Azure Luan Elder could speak, Ying Chengfeng said, "Don't rush, His Holiness the Pope."
"They didn't get married. Later, someone from the woman's family came."
"And the person this pig-Martial-Soul Soul Master was going to marry turned out to be his own cousin."
"Guess what happened? That pig Soul Master couldn't take the shock and ran away."
"Just like when he abandoned his former girlfriend, he was insecure and cowardly. He couldn't face it, so he ran."
"That former girlfriend still thought that pig Soul Master understood her so well."
"If he really understood her, why did he find someone new?"
"If he really understood her, why didn't he dare go find his former girlfriend?"
"The worst that could happen is he'd die. He's useless alive anyway."
"If you can't even raise a pig properly, what are you if not useless?"
"But I suppose it makes sense. Which young master from a great family would raise pigs?"
"I heard he even came up with something called the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul."
"Wow, so impressive, so impressive~"
After delivering his round of mockery, Ying Chengfeng paid no heed to the oppressive atmosphere inside the Pope Palace.
He simply left with Azure Luan Elder and Yu Feiyan.
Once they were out of the Pope Palace, Azure Luan Elder looked at Ying Chengfeng helplessly.
"Just go. I'm really scared of you now."
"You've got some nerve, confronting Bibi Dong to her face."
Ying Chengfeng reined in his emotions a little.
He really had let his feelings get the better of him just now.
Luckily, Azure Luan Elder had blocked most of the Soul Power Bibi Dong released.
Otherwise, Ying Chengfeng wouldn't have come out of it unscathed.
Now, Ying Chengfeng smiled. "Isn't Grandpa here with me?"
"My old bones are going to fall apart sooner or later because of you," Azure Luan Elder said helplessly.
There was only one phrase that could describe his grandson: young and hot-blooded!
And was he ever hot-blooded. If he got worked up enough, he'd probably tear down the Pope Palace.
Ying Chengfeng said to Azure Luan Elder, "Grandpa, we'll wait for you outside the north gate."
With that, he led Yu Feiyan away.
As soon as they returned to their room at the inn, they saw Qian Renxue sitting alone on the bed.
"Bored?" Ying Chengfeng walked over and asked softly.
"Not really." Qian Renxue replied, then asked, "Are you done with what you had to do?"
"Mm. We should go." Ying Chengfeng personally helped conceal her figure.
Half an hour later.
The three of them arrived outside Spirit City's north gate.
Azure Luan Elder had arrived early and was already waiting there.
At a glance, he spotted Qian Renxue, whose figure was concealed.
"So that's it..." Azure Luan Elder immediately guessed Qian Renxue's identity.
Nine years had passed. His grandson's appearance had changed, but he still hadn't grown at all.
He suspected Qian Renxue was the same.
Now he finally had his answer.
Azure Luan Elder walked up to the three of them.
"Now you can tell me what you want my help with."
Ying Chengfeng looked north. "There's a treasure trove in Sunset Forest."
"Poison Douluo has seized it."
Ying Chengfeng didn't spell out his meaning.
But Azure Luan Elder immediately guessed what he was after.
"You want that treasure trove? Poison Douluo... I really am the only one who can deal with him."
After saying that, Azure Luan Douluo glanced at the three of them and frowned slightly.
He could grab one person in each hand and fly with them.
But with three people, wouldn't one of them have to ride on his back?
Azure Luan Elder had his pride, too!
Just then, Ying Chengfeng spoke up. "Grandpa, take them both with you. I'll do my best to keep up."
"Oh? Do your best to keep up with me?" Azure Luan Elder shook his head with a laugh.
Ying Chengfeng was already floating in midair.
Azure Luan Elder was startled at the sight.
"You little rascal, you can do that too?" Azure Luan Elder looked at Ying Chengfeng with even greater approval.
He grabbed Qian Renxue and Yu Feiyan by the arms.
A pair of azure wings appeared behind him, and he took off with the two girls.
"Brat, let's see how you'll do your best to keep up with me."
With that, he flew at just one-tenth of his full speed.
Ying Chengfeng caught up in the blink of an eye.
"Not bad. Keep going." Azure Luan Elder increased his speed again.
Ying Chengfeng caught up once more.
Thirty percent speed.
Forty percent speed.
Ying Chengfeng still kept pace.
Only when Azure Luan Elder reached seventy percent speed did Ying Chengfeng start to fall behind a little.
It wasn't that he lacked speed. It was that after activating the Wind Domain, he was starting to run low on Soul Power.
The Wind Domain gave him extreme speed.
Meanwhile, Ying Chengfeng and the others were speeding toward Sunset Forest.
Inside the Pope Palace.
Bibi Dong sat silently on the papal throne.
Her face was so dark it looked ready to drip.
She had picked up on several key points.
First: the Martial Soul had failed to awaken fully because the Soul Master lacked Soul Power, but the Soul Master himself wasn't lacking in talent.
Second: a Martial Soul capable of leading the Radiant Sacred Dragon clearly wasn't useless.
Otherwise, any old worm or spider could form a Radiant Sacred Dragon.
Third: that Soul Master had found someone new.
Bibi Dong felt as if her head were in a whirl.
After a long while, she murmured to herself, "Xiao Gang, where did you go?"
"Why didn't you come find me? You should understand me..."
Bibi Dong began to question everything.
Ying Chengfeng's string of razor-sharp, viciously scathing words echoed through her mind again.
She couldn't find a single thing to refute.
"That child Azure Luan Elder brought with him... why does he have such a strong... prejudice against me?"
The only word Bibi Dong could think of was "prejudice."
Because she couldn't sense any hatred toward her in Ying Chengfeng.
Instead, it felt more like... disdain.
Yes, disdain. He'd even backed all the way to the palace entrance to speak.
He hadn't stood far away because he was afraid of her. He'd had his back to her the entire time he spoke.
He'd acted as if he didn't take her seriously at all.
That disdain was just like the disdain she felt for Qian Renxue.
Whenever she spoke to Qian Renxue, she never even looked her in the eye.
Thinking of Qian Renxue, the person who had been missing for nine years, Bibi Dong fell completely silent.
Before you continue